Hoover Dam
by Inita
Summary: Heavy spoilers for "Titan's Curse". It's Annabeth's birthday and Percy has a very special gift for her. Told in Percy's P.O.V. Percy/Annabeth


**Just a random idea. Takes place after Titan's Curse, but honestly, I think it follows more of an alternate storyline. I don't know if Percy actually ****does ****take Annabeth to Hoover Dam in the last book, because I'm still reading the series. Also, I don't know if they mentioned when Annabeth's birthday was so just bare with me, okay? Anyway, read on and (hopefully) enjoy:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

It was one of those rare, warm, bright days during the month of September. In honesty, I found it pretty odd seeing how I hadn't been ambushed by any monsters. Usually on the first day of school, I would walk through those doors with no problem. Then, when I think the day will end out well, I would turn around just to come face to face with someone who wanted to kill me. I was used to this, but for some reason, this bothered me. No monsters on the first day, or the day after that. I had survived nearly a whole week without any trouble.

Today however, was special. No, not just because it was a Saturday. I mean, Saturdays are cool and all don't get me wrong, but this was different. Today was Annabeth's birthday.

This morning, I spoke to my Mom about picking up Annabeth and taking her to Hoover Dam. You see, Annabeth was really interested in architecture and so I thought maybe that Hoover Dam was a good place to take her. It seemed like a great gift (seeing how I didn't _really_ have one to give her).

Last summer, I traveled with my friends on a... well I guess it's more like _followed _them. Blackjack, a black Pegasus we had rescued two years ago from the Princess Andromeda, helped me catch up to the van they were travelling in. It's a long story, so I'll skip to the main part. The thing is I've been to Hoover Dam before. When Thalia, Grover, Bianca, and Zoe Nightshade found me (well, it was more like _I_ found _them_) we began travelling together to find Artemis and Annabeth together. Now if you were a demigod, you'd probably know what I mean by "met up". It's not your average _'Oh hey, there you are Grover! What a coincidence running into you here! Wanna hang out?_' Instead, I found them being chased by zombies.

Before reaching Hoover Dam, our friend Bianca had died saving us. And her brother, Nico di Angelo wasn't so happy about it when I told him his sister wasn't coming back and he ran off into the woods. We still haven't found him yet and it probably worries Chiron the most. For all we know, Nico could've been a new piece to Kronos' army.

If you ask me, I thought it was just cruel how we wound up in Annabeth's favorite place in the world and she wasn't even there.

So, to make that up... yeah you know what I'm doing.

Mom was driving the car towards our destination. Mr. Blofis decided to stay at our apartment back home, so it was just the three of us. Annabeth and I were both in the back, the middle seat empty. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail and, just in case we were suddenly attacked, she carried her Yankees cap that allowed her to turn invisible. I made sure my ballpoint pen, Riptide, was placed in one of my jean pockets. When uncapped, Riptide transformed into a blade made of celestial bronze, a type of material that could harm monsters.

Annabeth and I had talked for most of the ride, but now she looked out the window, trying to find out where we were going. She asked us where we were going, but I told her it was a surprise. I even got Mom to agree not to tell her. Of course she thought it was a bit cruel to keep it a secret that long, but...

"Percy, where exactly are you taking me?" Annabeth asked, still gazing out the window.

I sighed. "It's a surprise." I don't know how many times I had answered with that. I lost count after the fifth time.

She didn't protest, but huffed instead.

I know she didn't like it when I wouldn't tell her things. Especially when it involved her. "Trust me, you'll like it. The wait will pay off."

Her head turned to face me. She didn't smile, but her grey eyes shone slightly with excitement. "Whatever you say, Seaweed Brain."

Mom, who was watching us the whole time, smiled in the rearview mirror. "We're almost there, Annabeth."

"And this ride _will_ pay off." I added. At least I hoped it would.

--

"We're here." Mom announced, pulling into the parking lot.

Annabeth perked up and looked out at the window. She stiffened just slightly and immediately swung her door open before hopping out. By hopping out, I mean _really_ hopping out. She seemed really happy about this.

I grinned and opened up the door, walking around the car to stand next to her.

"I'll be right back." Mom announced before walking away from the vehicle.

When she was gone, Annabeth finally spoke, "Percy... this is..."

"...Hoover Dam?" I finished before looking at her.

A smile spread across her face and I was soon caught in one of her hugs. "Thank you, Percy." She said quietly.

I hugged her back, a smile of my own plastered on my face.

"Happy Birthday, Annabeth."

**Okay, so that was really short and a lot of it was based off my summary of Titan's Curse. All in all, I thought it came out quite well. :) Please let me know if they were in character and I'm currently working on the next chapter to ****Just them****. Now, like I said before, I don't know if they said anything about Annabeth's birthday (or anyone else) so I just picked a random month. Though if they did please let me know.**

**So review if you liked it. :)**


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